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We are pleased to announce a new project at ShipIndex.org, which allows members of the public to share information about the vessels that matter to them. Do you have images, or documents, or details, about specific vessels? You can add that to a space where anyone can see and learn more about that ship.
Add pictures, links to websites, details that you have found, or anything else. Here’s how it works:
First, it’s important to know that we have ‘ship pages’ and ‘vessel pages’. A
ship page
is one that has results that are not narrowed down to a specific vessel. For example:
(This is a screen shot of the results page for ships named ‘Suzanna’, for someone who is logged in to the database.)
vessel page
is one that uses a unique identifier to bring together citations about
one specific vessel
. On some ship pages, you’ll see a lot of vessel cards, representing each of many different ships that have the same name. For example:
(Screen shot of multiple vessel cards on the ship page for ships named ‘Wasp’; each vessel card represents a different ship named ‘Wasp’.)
If you click on any of these vessel cards, you’ll get to a single page that has links to citations that refer only to
that specific vessel
, not to any others with that same name. (This approach also allows us to bring together the different names that one vessel might have over time.)
You’ll usually find an image of the vessel on that vessel page. Below the image, you’ll see a blue box that says “Comments”, and includes a circle with a number inside, indicating the comments that have been shared about that vessel. For example, see the box in the red circle, from this vessel card for RRS Discovery:
Click on the Comments button, and you’ll see all of the comments about that specific vessel. In this case, I’ve added a picture that I took of RRS Discovery, when I visited the ship in 2015.
If we don’t have a vessel page for the ship that you want to comment on, just email us at
comments@shipindex.org
, ask us to create that vessel page, and we’ll do it as quickly as we can.
Our commenting system is provided by
Hyvor
, an open-source commenting tool. You can create an account with Hyvor before logging in, or you can just post anonymously. Note that if your comment doesn’t relate to the ship in question, it’ll be quickly deleted.
Please share your ship knowledge with others! If you have a LOT to share, let us know, at
comments@shipindex.org
. Let’s see if we can arrange some way of making all of your content available to researchers around the world!
This week, we look at an incredible four-year-long circumnavigation of the world, and a several recent naval support ships.
June 15
: In
1744
, Commander George Anson returned to England after an epic four-year circumnavigation of the globe. Anson sailed with six naval and two merchant ships, returning with just one ship and only 10% of his original crew, which consisted primarily of “invalids” – sick or old or wounded sailors who could do some service, but not much. The voyage was an incredibly difficult one, with great losses of life due to mutinies, storms, scurvy, overloaded vessels, malaria, and much more. When Anson returned, he did so with gold and silver taken from a Spanish prize galleon, equivalent to perhaps $60M today. He was greatly celebrated at the time, and taken to meet the King. No investigation took place into the problems caused by scurvy or difficult leadership during the voyage, though a number of changes came directly from it – including, for example, the introduction of standardized naval uniforms, so that officers could distinguish naval sailors from merchant sailors.
June 16
: USS
Wakefield
entered naval service on this day in
1941
, and was decommissioned on this day in
1946
Wakefield
was better known as the ocean liner SS
Manhattan
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
), and as a troopship was the largest vessel ever operated by the US Coast Guard. As
Manhattan
, the ship sailed on the New York-Europe route, primarily to Hamburg – including carrying the US Olympic team to Germany for the 1936 Berlin Olympics. During one convoy voyage between Glasgow and New York, a fire broke out, causing extensive damage.
Wakefield
made it to Halifax, where torrential rains threatened to sink the ship. Eventually written off as a total loss,
Wakefield
was towed from Halifax to Boston, and then stripped to the waterline and completely rebuilt, returning to service in 1944. After D-Day,
Wakefield
began service carrying wounded GIs back to the US, and after the end of the war, the ship was decommissioned on this day in 1946, and eventually sold for scrap in 1965.
June 21
: During the Falklands War in 1982, the hulk of RFA
Sir Galahad
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
) was sunk by HMS
Onyx
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
).
Sir Galahad
had been commissioned in 1966, and served as a landing ship logistics vessel during the Falklands War. The ship had survived an attack in late May by the Argentinian Air Force, and an unexploded bomb was successfully removed from the ship after that attack.
Sir Galahad
was attacked again on June 8, while preparing to unload soldiers in the Falklands; during this attack, several bombs exploded and started fires on board. The fires quickly got out of control, and the vessel was destroyed, with the loss of 48 lives. On the 21st, the hulk was towed out to sea and sunk by torpedoes from
Onyx
. It is now considered an official war grave.
Brockville, Ontario, will be hosting a collection of tall ships in their
Tall Ships Festival
, June 20-22. They’ve got a full lineup of ships, music, science, family activities, and a lot more. This festival takes place every three years, so if you’re in the neighborhood, don’t wait until 2028! Check it out!
There’s always something interesting in any week, when looking at maritime and naval history. Let’s see what we find this week!
June 8
: USS
Vincennes
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
), a sloop of war built in 1825-26, returned from a circumnavigation of the world in
1830
, the first US Naval vessel to do so. Several years later,
Vincennes
was assigned duty as the flagship of the US Exploring Expedition (or, US Ex Ex, or Wilkes Expedition) to the South Seas and the Pacific Northwest. The Ex Ex is not well-known today, but it was an exploration on the scale of Lewis & Clark’s 1804-06 expedition across North America, but at sea. Tens of thousands of botanical and biological specimens were collected on the voyage, thus forming the start of the collections at the Smithsonian. Hundreds of islands in the Pacific were explored and charted, and the expedition’s charts of Antarctica are still used today.
June 9
: In
1909
, the
Perry G. Walker
, a Great Lakes freighter (
ShipIndex
), accidentally rammed the closed lower lock doors of the Canadian Soo Locks, in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, causing the doors to fail, and sweeping the
Walker
, the CP steamer
Assiniboia
(Wikipedia,
ShipIndex
), and Pittsburgh Steamship freighter
Crescent City
ShipIndex
) through the locks. The collision caused major damage to the locks, and water flowed out, completely uncontrolled. Despite the damage, the locks were repaired quickly and reopened two weeks later. As a result of wall failures in 1987, the locks were closed and replaced with a new lock in 1998. The locks are now a
Canadian National Historic Site
. Commercial traffic today uses the American locks to bypass the St Marys River rapids.
June 11
: The Battle of Machias, the first naval engagement in the American Revolutionary War, took place in
1775
. Residents of Machias, Maine, banded together to prevent the armed schooner HMS
Margaretta
from sailing to Boston to support British troops there, after the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April. After an attack by Machias citizens on the British ship while it was at anchor,
Margaretta
lost her boom and gaff in a sudden jibe, and wasn’t able to maneuver effectively as a result. Locals sailed on two vessels, the
Unity
and the
Falmouth Packet
, to successfully attack and overwhelm
Margaretta
, though with loss of lives on both sides. The Machias band was led by Jeremiah O’Brien, for whom the Liberty ship
SS
Jeremiah O’Brien
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
), now on display in San Francisco, was named.
June 14
: In
1789
, the survivors of the mutiny on board the HMS
Bounty
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
), led by Captain William Bligh, arrived in Timor, after one of the most remarkable and famous open-boat voyages ever, of over 3600 nautical miles.
Here’s some activities to consider joining, if you’re (way) down south in the coming weeks:
From June 20 to 22, visit the
New Zealand Maritime Museum
to join a weekend of heritage boatbuilding work by Māori carvers. Join for crafts, storytelling, and more, during their celebration of Matariki, the Māori New Year.
Find more information here
If you have many (Many! MANY!) thousands of pounds sterling sitting around your house, and still have some holes in your Nelsoniana collection, consider taking a look at what Peter Harrington, the top-flight London bookseller,
has to offer you
. Consider
one of Nelson’s early wills
, at £30,000, or
a letter written before the battle of Trafalgar
, regarding his expectations for the battle, at £100,000, or
a weather log kept by Nelson
on board HMS Victory, for just £450,000! While nothing at Peter Harrington is inexpensive, you may find some other interesting items in their
naval & maritime collection
We took a break from “This Week in Maritime History” posts for a bit, but we are back! Check out these events in this coming week in maritime history:
June 1
: In
1850
, Captain John S. DeBlois set sail in the whaleship
Ann Alexander
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
) from New Bedford, Massachusetts. While many ships set sail on whaling voyages at this time, the voyage was to become particularly notable because the next year, in the southern Pacific Ocean, while hunting whales, one whale crushed one of the small whaleboats, then turned its attention to the
Ann Alexander
. The whale rammed the
Ann Alexander
, creating a hole in the side of the ship below the waterline, and causing it to start sinking quickly. The crew was able to collect only a few provisions before the ship sank, but they got into two whaleboats and aimed northward. They were spotted, and rescued, by the whaler
Nantucket
ShipIndex
) two days later, and the entire crew eventually returned to New York. The whale, which had developed infections from the two harpoons and pieces of timber under its skin, was caught and killed five months later by the crew of the
Rebecca Simms
ShipIndex
). Herman Melville’s tome,
Moby-Dick
, was published just two months after this incident, causing Melville to write, “Ye Gods! What a commentator is this
Ann Alexander
whale… I wonder if my evil art has raised this monster.”
June 1
: USS
Chesapeake
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
) was captured by HMS
Shannon
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
), in
1813
, off the coast of Boston.
Chesapeake
sailed with a flag that read “Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights”, and had challenged
Shannon
to a battle when she sailed out of Boston the day before, but the written challenge had not been received before the battle occurred. But when the two ships met at sea,
Chesapeake
was seriously damaged, and
Shannon
’s accurate marksmen killed many men and officers on board
Chesapeake
. As Captain James Lawrence lay dying from a shot by a sniper, he was said to have given the order, “Don’t give up the ship. Fight her till she sinks.” Just 15 minutes after the first gun was fired,
Shannon
had taken
Chesapeake
Chesapeake
was taken into the Royal Navy and served as HMS
Chesapeake
for six years, before being sold and broken up to build a new watermill in England.
The building
still exists; it’s now an antique mall.
June 5
: The Battle of Midway began on this day in
1942
. The US Pacific Fleet decisively defeated the Imperial Japanese Navy after American code breakers had determined the Japanese plan of attack in advance. The Japanese fleet was caught by surprise, and Japan lost all of the aircraft carriers present at the battle –
Akagi
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
),
Kaga
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
),
Sōryū
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
), and
Hiryū
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
), along with the cruiser
Mikuma
and other ships, planes, and pilots. American forces lost the aircraft carrier
Yorktown
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
) and the destroyer
Hammann
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
). The battle was a significant turning point for the American campaign in World War II, and several ships later took the name Midway, in honor of the victory: Escort carrier CVE-63 was initially named USS
Midway
, but then renamed to USS
St. Lo
, so a larger aircraft carrier, CV-41, could take the name USS
Midway
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
). CV-41 is now docked in San Diego, at the
USS
Midway
Museum
June 6
: As memorialized by Jerry Bryant, “On the sixth day of June,
eighteen-ninety and six
, / Messrs. Harbo and Samuelsen started to row…” George Harbo and Frank Samuelson left on this day in 1896 to become the first people to row across an ocean – in this case, the Atlantic. They rowed a specially-built surfboat,
Fox
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
), crossing the ocean in about two months. Look for another post in about two months, noting their landfall.
In current news, USCGC Eagle is expected to visit Portland, Oregon, on June 6, and will be open for tours. I can’t find specific details on where the ship will dock, so if you have some details, please share! The next week, Eagle is scheduled to visit Astoria, then head south to San Francisco, head north to Seattle and Victoria, Canada, then head back to SF again.
The full tentative schedule can be seen here
For more about these ships, check out ShipIndex.org. And let us know if you have events that you think we should include!
Last week, the ShipIndex senior management team organized a corporate retreat in Seattle. (Translation: I went back home to visit the parents.) While there, I went to the Central Branch of the
Seattle Public Library
, and was reminded that they have their own Ship Index there. So, after collecting data for additions to the ShipIndex database, I made an appointment to visit the
Seattle Room
, and to take a closer look at the SPL Ship Index.
This Ship Index is a collection of about 25,000 cards with citations of ships mentioned in other resources, focused on Pacific Northwest maritime history. Most citations are from the monthly
Marine Digest
(much of which has been digitized by SPL) or
Railway & Marine News
, or the major Seattle daily newspapers: the
Seattle Times
and the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
. Some cards provide citations to other sources, as well, and a small percentage have newspaper articles clipped to the cards. The photos below show some examples of these cards. Most cards were added between the 1940s and the 1970s; the Index is not currently growing.
If you’re doing research on Pacific Northwest vessels from the 1900s to the 1980s, be sure to schedule some time with Seattle Public Library’s card-based Ship Index, in their Seattle Room. You’ll also find that indexes to many of the books regarding PacNW maritime history are in the ShipIndex.org database. (Many of those are in the free database, because I compiled them when I was working at the UW, and the database was just a side project. The titles that were freely available at the beginning have always remained freely available.) The most notable titles for PacNW history are as follows:
Pre-1900: Wright, E. W., ed.
Lewis & Dryden’s Marine History of the Pacific Northwest.
Portland, Or.: Lewis & Dryden Print. Co., 1895.
1895-1965ish: Newell, Gordon R., ed.
The H. W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest.
Seattle: Superior Publishing Company, 1966.
1960s-1975ish: Newell, Gordon R.,
The H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, 1966-1976.
Seattle: Superior Publishing Company, 1977. [to be added very soon]
Sea Chest: The Journal of the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society (1967-2011; Vols. 1-45).
Seattle: Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society, 2011.
Finally, here’s a research question:
I know that the New York Public Library also has a card-based Ship Index, which I’ll visit again soon. Do you know of any others? For a project I’m working on, I’d like to know of all English-language card-based ship indexes. Please do let me know of any others you’ve come across! Comment below, or email me at peter [at] shipindex [dot] org.
Let’s explore a few more important events in our maritime history for this week.
April 27
: Exercise Tiger, a preparation for D-Day, took place on the southern coast of England, in
1944
. Exercise Tiger was a multi-day practice assault on a beach in England that had features similar to Normandy’s Utah Beach. Military leaders wanted the experience to be as life-like as possible, so ships sailed around overnight to land in Slapton, England, on Lyme Bay, early in the morning of the 27th. Live artillery was also used, to give sailors and soldiers a sense of what the real D-Day would be like. But due to numerous problems, errors, poor communication, and the discovery of the “invasion” by a group of German fast attack craft patrolling the English Channel, some 750 American servicemen died in the exercise. It did, however, identify numerous problems to be addressed before the actual invasion.
April 28
: In
1789
, Fletcher Christian led a mutiny on board HMS
Bounty
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
), and set Captain William Bligh and members of his crew in an open boat, in the Pacific Ocean. Bligh successfully sailed to Dutch Coupang (now Kupang, in Timor), losing only one sailor during an attack by hostile natives when they initially landed on Tofua, in Tonga. The voyage is considered one of the most remarkable navigational successes ever.
April 29
: USS
Peacock
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
) captured HMS
Epervier
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
) in
1814
, in one of the most one-sided victories of the War of 1812, off the coast of Florida.
Epervier
had much lighter armament than
Peacock
, and was no match, particularly when
Peacock
fired directly into
Epervier
’s hull.
Epervier
was taken to Savannah, Georgia, and absorbed into the US Navy as USS
Epervier
, then was lost at sea in the Atlantic, in July or August 1815.
May 1
: SS
Gulflight
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
), an American oil tanker, was torpedoed off the coast of England soon after the start of World War I, in
1915
, playing a big role in pushing the US into war.
Gulflight
was sailing with gasoline and oil from Port Arthur, Texas, to Rouen, France, when British naval ships surrounded
Gulflight
and ordered it to enter port. German U-boat U-30 (
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
) spotted the ships and fired on
Gulflight
, putting a hole in the starboard bow, and causing the ship to start sinking. In the end,
Gulflight
stayed afloat, and after repairs continued to sail for many years. The ship was renamed to
Nantucket Chief
in 1937, then
Refast
in 1938, and during World War II was sunk by German submarine
U-582
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
) off the Canadian coast.
And here’s a bit of maritime history museum news for this week.
The
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum
will be
opening on May 17
, in Vergennes, Vermont. Their newest exhibit is “Underwater Archaeology: Diving into the Stories of People and Canal Boats on Lake Champlain”. The museum is free for all visitors!
On May 24, 2025, Mystic Seaport’s new exhibit, “
Monstrous: Whaling and its Colossal Impact
”, will open. This looks like a fantastic view into the Seaport’s most central topic of research. I look forward to seeing this exhibit, hopefully soon.
For more about these ships, check out ShipIndex.org. And let us know if you have events that you think we should include!
This week we explore a range of events in maritime history, from single-handed circumnavigations to several disastrous collisions at sea.
April 21
: The Indonesian diesel-electric sub Nanggala (
Wikipedia
, ShipIndex) sank in the Bali Sea, in
2021
, most likely due to a power outage that the crew was unable to recover from. All 53 people on board lost their lives.
April 23
: Several days after the assassination of President Lincoln in
1865
, the US Navy anchored a barge called
Black Diamond
in the Potomac River, to try and prevent the assassin John Wilkes Booth from crossing into Virginia. A side-wheel steamer serving as a troop transport ship, the
Massachusetts
(formerly the
JWD Pentz
), collided with Black Diamond, leading to the loss of at least 87 lives. Learn more about this incident in “
Shipwreck on the Potomac
”, to be published next week.
April 24
: Joshua Slocum set sail in his oyster boat Spray (
Wikipedia
, ShipIndex), in
1895
, from Boston, to begin the first solo circumnavigation of the world. Slocum had arranged a publishing contract to write about the voyage, and the resulting book, Sailing Alone Around the World, became a classic in travel literature. Slocum received extensive praise and publicity from the book, and brought Spray up the Erie Canal to the 1901 Pan-American Exposition, in Buffalo. Ten years after publishing his book, and finding himself very low on funds, Slocum attempted another voyage in Spray, despite its very poor condition by then. He sailed from Massachusetts in 1909, headed for the West Indies, but was not heard from again, and was declared legally dead in 1924.
April 26
: In one of the worst US naval accidents since World War II, USS
Hobson
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
) was cut in two during a collision with USS
Wasp
(CV-18) (
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
), while completing amphibious exercises in
1952
Hobson
had been commissioned in 1942, and immediately served in the North African theater, supporting aircraft carrier USS
Ranger
. In 1943,
Hobson
served in the North Atlantic on convoy duty, including sailing with RMS
Queen Mary
when it transported Winston Churchill to the Quebec Conference.
Hobson
served in the very first wave off Utah Beach during D-Day, shelling targets on shore.
Hobson
continued with extensive service in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters toward the end of the war. A memorial to USS
Hobson
now stands at the Battery, in Charleston, SC, where the ship had been originally built.
For more about these ships, check out ShipIndex.org. And let us know if you have events that you think we should include!
Of course we are back this week with the loss of the Titanic, in 1912, but it was not, by any means, the largest loss of life in this particular week in maritime history.
14:
The most famous shipwreck, that of RMS
Titanic
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
) on its maiden voyage, occurred on the night of April 14-15,
1912
. The “RMS” in the ship’s name refers to the fact that Titanic was designated a “Royal Mail Ship,’ providing specific service in delivering British mail to and from North America. Titanic, of course, did not have enough lifeboats for all of the passengers who were on board. The disaster did lead to significant safety changes associated with travel at sea, particularly around carrying sufficient lifeboats, and the required use of radios on passenger ships.
For more on Titanic, see the following websites:
Encyclopedia Titanica
Royal Museums Greenwich’s
RMS Titanic Facts
National Museums Liverpool’s
Titanic page
April 16
: The German troop transport ship MV
Goya
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
) was sunk in
1945
by the Soviet submarine
L-3
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
), leading to one of the greatest losses of life at sea. Goya was built in Norway in 1940 and seized by the German government and incorporated into the Kriegsmarine. In 1945, as part of Operation Hannibal, Goya sailed from Poland to Germany, to evacuate over 7000 citizens, soldiers, and sailors. The ship was attacked from the air by Soviet bombers, suffering only minimal damage, but then was spotted by a minelayer submarine.
Goya
was slowed by engine problems on one of its convoy vessels, giving
L-3
an opportunity to fire four torpedoes at the ship, two of which hit.
Goya
sank immediately, and only 183 on board survived.
April 18
: In
1990
, the wreck of the five-masted schooner
Cora F. Cressey
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
) was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Cora F. Cressey
was launched in 1902, at the Percy and Small Shipyard in Bath, Maine, and was one of the largest wooden ships ever built. After retiring from service in 1928, the ship spent ten years as a floating nightclub in Massachusetts and Maine. Eventually,
Cressey
was intentionally sunk to act as a breakwater near Bremen, Maine. Portions of the vessel are on display at the
Maine Maritime Museum
, which is at the original Percy & Small Shipyard, where
Cressey
was originally built.
April 20
: The
1657
Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife took place during the Anglo-Spanish War of 1654-60, in the Canary Islands, in an attempt to take the Spanish treasure fleet from the Americas. The fleet had already arrived in Tenerife and was safe from the English navy, but Admiral Robert Blake succeeded in destroying most Spanish ships in the harbor, without taking on any serious damage to his fleet.
Here are some other interesting bits in the maritime world this week:
48° North, a newsletter of maritime happenings in the Pacific Northwest, has
a great story about the reuse
of the 115-year-old mast of
1907 schooner
Martha
. When Martha needed a new mast, they turned to Northwest Maritime’s boat shop, where manager there suggested that the mast be used to build a new boat. There’s much more to it, and you should read the whole story.
At the
Hudson River Maritime Museum
, in Kingston, NY, their solar-powered tour boat, Solaris, will begin its 2025 season on May 2. Tickets are now on sale/sail — if you’re in the area, be sure to book a trip. (I think I’ll book a ticket for May 3, so if you’re around, let me know!)
For more about these ships, check out ShipIndex.org. And let us know if you have events that you think we should include!
We look at a number of ship losses this week, including the most famous one.
April 7
: Japanese battleship
Yamato
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
) was sunk in
1945
, during Operation Ten-Go, in World War II.
Yamato
was launched in 1940, and at the time was the most powerfully built battleship ever, along with its sister-ship,
Musashi
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
).
Yamato
served as the flagship of Japan’s combined fleet, and in 1942 Admiral Yamamoto directed the Battle of Midway from
Yamato
’s bridge. Operation Ten-Go was a Japanese plan to attack Allied forces that had invaded Okinawa.
Yamato
was to be beached near Okinawa to attack Allied forces until it was destroyed. But through codebreaking, the Allies knew of the plans for Operation Ten-Go, and Allied forces attacked
Yamato
before it could approach Okinawa. Allied forces battered the ship throughout the day, and in the afternoon the ship finally sank after an incredible explosion of
Yamato
’s magazines, creating a mushroom cloud that was visible 100 miles away. Of 3,332 crewmembers, about 3,055 were lost.
Yamato
has remained a significant symbolic touchstone in Japanese culture.
April 10:
USS
Thresher
Wikipedia
Shipindex
), a nuclear-powered attack submarine, was lost off the US eastern seaboard in
1963
, while doing deep-diving tests. All on board were lost.
April 10
: RMS
Titanic
began its maiden voyage from Southampton, in
1912
. The next day, Titanic arrived at Cork, Ireland, then set sail for New York, and movie history.
April 11
: SMS
Blücher
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
), the last German armored cruiser, was launched in
1908
. Blücher was lost at the Battle of Dogger Bank, in 1915, during World War I, with the loss of perhaps as many as 1000 sailors.
For more about these ships, check out ShipIndex.org. And let us know if you have events that you think we should include!
Storms play an important part this week, from the nearly-always-stormy Cape Horn, in 1840, to the sinking of a Newfoundlander sealing ship in 1915.
March 30
: In
1881
, SS
Aberdeen
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
) sailed on her first voyage, from London to Melbourne, via Cape Town, then to Shanghai, and back to London via the Suez Canal.
Aberdeen
was special because it was the first ship to be successfully powered by a triple expansion steam engine, a major improvement on the two-cylinder compound engines. In 1906
Aberdeen
was sold to the Ottoman government and renamed
Halep
, then was sunk by a British submarine in World War I, while serving as a Turkish troopship.
March 31
: A storm off the coast of Newfoundland in
1914
caused the sinking of the SS
Southern Cross
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
).
Southern Cross
was launched in 1896 and served with the Southern Cross Expedition to Antarctica in 1898 to 1900, and was the first expedition to spend the winter on the Antarctic mainland. After that voyage,
Southern Cross
served in sealing hunts from 1901 until its loss with all hands in 1914.
April 1
: The Battle of Okinawa began in
1945
, as the end of World War II approached. USS
West Virginia
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
) had been bombed and seriously damaged during the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Navy mess attendant Doris Miller was on board
West Virginia
at the time; he was sent to man an anti-aircraft gun despite having no training, and eventually was awarded a Navy Cross for his actions. In 1945, at the start of the Battle of Okinawa, West Virginia sat just off the island for several days, supporting the invasion through ground bombardment and illuminating the invasion space. One kamikaze aircraft managed to evade West Virginia’s defences and crash into the ship, causing the deaths of four sailors.
April 3
: Sailing to San Francisco around Cape Horn in
1849
, on board
Croton
ShipIndex
), Hiram Chittenden drew a picture of the landscapes he saw in Le Maire Strait, at the eastern edge of Cape Horn. The San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park has an image of this drawing, plus some description of it,
in a blog post
from 2012. As a born- and bred-Seattleite, I of course recognize the name of Hiram Chittenden – as you might, if you’ve ever visited the Ballard Locks, more accurately known as the
Hiram M. Chittenden Locks
, reflecting his important work in Seattle for the Army Corps of Engineers from 1906 to 1908.
April 4
: In
1865
, President Lincoln visited Richmond, Virginia, aboard a converted sidewheel steamship, USS
Malvern
Wikipedia
ShipIndex
), after Richmond was taken by Union troops.
Malvern
served as a Confederate blockade runner under the name
William G. Hewes
, then
Ella and Annie
. As
Ella and Annie
, the ship was captured by USS
Niphon
in 1863, was renamed
Malvern
, and added to the Union Navy. After the end of the Civil War,
Malvern
ended up back with its original owner, and original name,
William G. Hewes
For more about these ships, check out ShipIndex.org. And let us know if you have events that you think we should include!
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